The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Sarah Mullaly, accompanied by the Archbishop in Jerusalem Most Revd Hosam Naoum, made a five day pastoral pilgrimage from June 20-24 2026 to Jerusalem, Palestine and Israel, focusing on the Christian, and especially theAnglican communities, in these places. Their experiences resulted in a joint pastoral letter.
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At the beginning of her pilgrimage Archbishop Sarah spoke of her desire to meet with Palestinian Christians and to remind them that they are not forgotten. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1012423877994175.
Archbishop Hosam reflected: ‘It is a profound joy and an honour to welcome Archbishop Sarah to the Holy Land for this historic pilgrimage. Her visit comes at a time when our communities deeply need the global Church’s prayerful presence and solidarity. As we travel together from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land, following the path of our Lord’s earthly ministry, we are reminded of our shared calling to be instruments of his peace and reconciliation.’
The importance given to the visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury was made clear by the extensive coverage offered by her communications team both on Facebook and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website which each day followed closely her journey and her encounters.
Website postings included:
Her meetings on the first day in East Jerusalem, particularly with Christan health and social workers:
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/holy-land-pilgrimage-day-one...
Her meetings on the second day with the Christian community in Bir Zeit:
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/holy-land-pilgrimage-day-two...
This included a personal meeting with a young Anglican Palestinian woman, Layan Nasir, recently released from prison:
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/archbishop-sarah-meets-pales...
On her third day she visited Nazareth, the place of the annunciation to Mary – especially meaningful to Archbishop Sarah, as her installation as Archbishop took place on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. As well as meeting the Anglican community in Nazareth she prayed at the grotto of the annunciation:
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/holy-land-pilgrimage-day-thr...
On the fourth day Archbishop Sarah journeyed to Bethlehem, to pray at the Church of the Nativity, and later visited the Tent of Nations. Greeted graciously by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Bethlehem she spoke of how as Christians we are called to solidarity with each other as members of God’s family. At the Tent of Nations the Archbishop planted an olive tree:
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/holy-land-pilgrimage-day-fou...
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/archbishop-canterbury-plants...
On the final day of her visit Archbishop Sarah was graciously received by Patriarch Theophilos III and made a visit with him to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians have for many centuries commemorated the death and resurrection of Christ. The Archbishop addressed the church leaders who had gathered to meet her, speaking of her hopes for Christian unity:
‘Jerusalem is the city from which the Gospel first went out into the world, and to which our Lord will one day return.
The Churches of this holy city are custodians of a living Christian presence in the very place where the foundations of our faith were laid.
My prayer is that, by God’s grace, we may continue to grow together into that unity for which Christ prayed. That we may bear witness together to the hope of the Gospel. And that we may offer to this city, to the Holy Land, and to the world, a foretaste of the peace of God’s coming Kingdom.’
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1736933564205110
The Facebook page of the Archbishop of Canterbury carries further material, including video, relating to her visit, which also included meetings with representatives of Palestinian and Israeli civil society, ecumenical, and interfaith groups.
The Archbishops’ pastoral letter, written at the end of the visit and addressed not only to local Anglican Christians but also the global Anglican Communion of which Archbishop Sarah is the President, made clear their concern for the current situation and the commitment of international Anglican institutions to work for peace with justice in the land:
A Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Sarah Mullally and Archbishop Hosam Naoum
25 June 2026
Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.
(1 John 3:18)
Dear Friends,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
From 19-24 June, 2026, we travelled as disciples of Christ on a pilgrimage through the Holy Land, praying and listening to God, listening to those we met, offering solidarity with those that are suffering, and allowing ourselves to be changed by all that we have seen and heard. To be a pilgrim is to undertake a journey through places, but it is also a journey of the heart and mind. Through this pilgrimage we have found ourselves drawn more deeply into the realities of life experienced by Palestinian Christians and by many others who call this land their home.
During our pilgrimage we have witnessed how the Church remains a place of encounter, hospitality, and witness. Through its schools, hospitals, and ministries, the Church defends human dignity and works for life lived in all its fullness. Amidst many hardships, we have witnessed a resilient Christian steadfastness that chooses love over hate and refuses to let despair have the final word. However, despite their faithful resistance we fear for the long-term future of the indigenous Christian Palestinian presence in the Holy Land that stretches back to the time when our Lord walked this land. This existential challenge demands our focused attention and collective responsibility. The time to act is now.
Across Palestine and Israel, we met families that feel unmoored and traumatised by endless conflict. In Israel, the simultaneous fighting of many conflicts at one time, and the deep-seated aftermath of the horrifying atrocities of 7 October, have created a state of intense sensitivity to potential danger that has transformed society and politics. In the West Bank, unchecked settler violence, forced displacement, systemic discrimination, and expanding checkpoints have left the Palestinian population impoverished, desperate and powerless to enact change. Annexation is already taking place in all but name.
Meanwhile, the profound suffering in Gaza continues. The international community must not look away; it bears a moral responsibility to relieve this agony and help rebuild Gaza’s society. We give thanks that despite a health system in catastrophic collapse, the Anglican Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City—alongside Church clinics across the region—continues to serve those in need as an embodied sign of God’s healing love.
We pray and call for an end to the enduring injustice in this land. Our pilgrimage was deeply enriched by our meetings with Palestinian and Israeli civil society, ecumenical, and interfaith groups working tirelessly to advance trust, justice, equality, and mutual understanding within and between communities. Their creativity and determination to secure self-determination for the Palestinian people, and a sustainable peace for all, must be amplified.
The conflicts across the Middle East are not merely local conflicts. They are symptomatic of a deeper political and spiritual crisis – an abandonment of international law and an increasing recurrence of military force to resolve disputes. We hold that war is never the answer. War destroys human life and tears apart the human family. Disputes must be solved in accordance with international law through patient diplomacy, negotiation and a vigorous defence of the rules-based international system. International humanitarian law is not an optional constraint but an unwavering commitment to protect the sanctity of human life and our God-given dignity.
In light of the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of 2024, we urge you to advocate with political representatives to take all necessary measures to establish a credible path towards ending the occupation. This must lead to a viable two-state solution enabling Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, dignity and security. Jerusalem’s status should be determined through negotiation as a shared capital, fully respecting the religious rights of all faiths and preserving both the historic Status Quo and the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem as ratified in Article 9 of the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.
We are grateful to the Anglican Alliance and other Church partners around the world for their exceptionally generous support to the Diocese of Jerusalem over the past two and a half years. We ask that you continue to generously support these works so that they can continue their life-giving ministries. Maintaining this ministry will become more difficult in the years ahead given the increased financial and regulatory pressures Church institutions face. This ministry is essential to help support the Christian presence in this land.
Our prayer is that by God’s grace, we might bear witness to the hope of the Gospel, and that we might offer to this land, its people and to the wider world a foretaste of God’s peace and love.
The Most Revd Dame Sarah Mullally The Most Revd Hosam E. Naoum
The Archbishop of Canterbury The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem
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All picture credits: The Archbishop of Canterbury.